Hagia Sophia, one of the most important monumental architectural monuments of the world that has survived to the present day, has a very special place in terms of its architecture and splendor as well as its functionality. The Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, which we opened to visitors in the famous Defter-i Hakani Nezareti building in Sultanahmet, keeps the 1700-year history of Hagia Sophia alive in 13 halls spread over an indoor area of approximately 3200 m².

In our museum, both the Byzantine and Ottoman periods of Hagia Sophia are explained with an immersive visual and audio display and 23 different language options with the help of the latest technologies. There are also four sections explaining the historical development of the historical building as a church, a mosque, a museum and a mosque again, with the majority of the artifacts exhibited by us for the first time. In addition, we offer visitors a view of a Byzantine cistern through a window on the ground floor of the building.

With the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, we have created a unique experience for those who want to experience the rich history of Hagia Sophia from a holistic perspective.

Our museum tour starts with the Byzantine section. In this section, each with specially prepared visual shows and new innovative methods that we call “infinity mirror”: The founding of the Byzantine state; the stages before and after the construction of the final structure of Hagia Sophia, its architecture far ahead of its time and especially its magnificent dome; the destruction during the Iconoclasm Period and the great looting during the Crusades. Our visitors get to know Constantine, the founder of the city, Emperor Theodosius, the mathematician Isidorus, the founding father of Hagia Sophia’s unique architecture, and Emperor Justinian, the founder of the temple, and learn the place of each of them in the history of Hagia Sophia.

The Ottoman section, accessed through the Hadith Gate, begins with the story of how Mehmed the Conqueror made Hagia Sophia the apple of his eye, and continues with the contributions of each of the subsequent sultans to the reborn Hagia Sophia. While presenting the great master Mimar Sinan and his revisions that brought Hagia Sophia to the present day with extraordinary visual shows, we also explained the works of many names who contributed to the architecture and art of Hagia Sophia with their touches.

In the exhibition hall of our museum, we conveyed the history of Hagia Sophia from the fourth century to the present day to our visitors with a collection of historical artifacts, a very important part of which we presented for the first time. A total of nearly 200 artifacts are exhibited in 4 different sections according to their periods: Church, Mosque, Museum and Mosque again.

Among the artifacts we exhibit along a chronological corridor, there are many original pieces of different types, from the sealed bricks of the temple to the materials used in its mosaics, from calligraphy plates to historical paintings. In particular, we highlighted the endowment written by Mehmed the Conqueror’s own hand, the icons of Jesus and Mary, which mirror thousands of years of history, and the Seraphim Cover, which covered the faces of the Seraphim Angels for many years.

We realized the visual and audio feast at the Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum, which we established under the auspices of the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism with our experience of nearly 30 years, with the contributions of 58 digital design artists, 4 stage design artists, 8 painters, 7 different composers and 8 musicians together with our creative management team. In each experience hall, visual content appropriate to the relevant period was accompanied live by different music groups playing ethnic instruments. As part of the ultimate sound experience, we designed sound for each room together with expert sound engineers in order to provide the atmosphere experience in the ambiances. We brought the storytelling in our museum to life with the valuable artists Selçuk Yöntem and Gülen Karaman.

Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum continues to welcome visitors seven days a week and offer them an unforgettable historical adventure.